Nationals 2022 Recap
/It’s been a month since Nationals, so I figure I better post this.
I’ve done laundry since I wrote this; Instagram had blocked me from posting it because it was too wordy.
My numbers are still pinned on my speedsuit, so I suppose it's not too late for a Nationals Road Race recap post. #ProcrastinationFTW #LaundryDayIsWhen?
Like last year, Anthony joined me on the adventure. I'm grateful for his cool head, attention to detail, and his subtle ability to get my mindset in the right frame of mind. Ie. Asking twice which follow vehicle I wanted my wheels in: peleton or breakaway? My second answer was the right one, but Tony asking twice was the key.
To my surprise, Janine was excited to come on the trip to Victoriaville as well. Her support has been immense through the years, both on and off the bike, and for cycling and non-cycling things. It meant a lot that she wanted to be a part of one of the bigger days where I go off to play bike racing.
Her handling of logistics (car rental), hand-ups in the feed zone (after some instruction from Anthony) were super helpful, and her pre-race good luck kisses, smile, and laughs helped me to stay relaxed and enjoy the day. It was the first time Janine had handed me up bottles, and that is one of the highlight images that sticks in my head from the weekend.
All this helped me to focus on my prep and execution for the 132km road race. This year I had decided to skip the time trial, and go all in on the road race, as that is still my bucket list box to check.
It had been 10 years since I got second at the Nationals Road Race in Lac Megantic. And while I'm not so superstitious to expect anything special about an anniversary, it was a good reminder of how much that result (loss) spurred me to up my game and how far I have come since then.
The race itself was set to be a marathon edition, with more climbing and more kilometers than the previous year. Pacing and fueling would be key, in addition to making the splits when they happened.
Both this year and last, the move went in the same place, again when Bruno forced a split on a hard grade out of a fast downhill corner. And both this year and last, I had put myself in the right place after moving up on the downhill to be in good position exiting the corner.
But this year, with better legs, there was no hesitation, and I closed the gap to the wheels in front. And just like, we were a breakaway of six, 45kms in, before even rolling through the first feed zone. At the time it felt like it was too easy, but of course, it would only get harder from here.
My breakaway companions and I collaborated well, quickly growing out our gap to over a minute. And by the beginning of the third circuit, the gap had grown to over 4 minutes. This seemed like a healthy margin over what I imagined would be a reduced peleton behind.
However, 95km into the race, and half-way around the circuit, my legs started to feel some cramp. I moved to the front of the group before a climb, hoping to control the pace. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bruno's final attack to leave us all behind. Off he went, and while the rest tried to chase him and each other, I had to ride a controlled pace to avoid leg cramps from taking over.
The optimistic part of me said perhaps I can recover and the others would falter on the 37km left back to the finish in town. The less optimistic part of me started getting concerned about holding off whatever remained of the group behind, all on my own.
Through the circuit feed zone climb one last time to get a bottle from J9, the descent off it let my legs recover a bit, and the chance of my legs completely seizing dissipated, as did my optimism for catching those ahead to compete for the medal positions.
I settled into a rhythm I thought I could manage for the last 30km, attempted to avoid the bad lines in the two gravel sections, got 2 bottles in the bonus feed zone (Thx to Tony who had pedalled over there), and battled a nasty headwind for the last 5km to survive for 6th place.
I would have liked to have been in with a shot at the medals with the riders ahead, but in the end the legs decide, and it was an effort and a result I am happy with. As I said to Janine after: It could have gone a bit better; it could have gone a lot worse.
All in all, it was an awesome weekend, definitely a highlight reel for 2022. Between the recon-ride, race day, post-race patio time, and the day after route verte spin, it was a good times, and I'm so grateful to have had Anthony and Janine alongside for the ride.
#nine2fivepro
